A personalized website is like having your very own site. Catered directly to you. Rather than a one-size fits all approach.
Personalized Website
So what exactly is a personalized website again and have I lost it? Here’s an example. Amazon. The more you frequent their store the more personal it becomes.
Amazon learns from the behavior of your prior visits. And adapts to your ever changing needs and interests.
Clearly not a one-size fits all approach.
A Vision
I’m not really sure this is insanely visionary, but at least we can call it insightful. By that I mean a quote from Jeff Bezos in the late 90’s when Amazon was just getting started.
“If we have 4.5 million customers, we shouldn’t have one store. We should have 4.5 million stores.”
He clearly believed then, as now, that we need to adapt to our customers. Especially when you have hundreds upon hundreds or more products. Millions in the case of Amazon.
Why ask customers to navigate through the same path when historically they are only interested in perhaps 1% of the products you offer.
But I’m Not Amazon
Neither am I. So perhaps the Amazon model is not fully achievable for smaller businesses. Smaller websites if you will. But that does not mean some level of personalization cannot be achieved.
Without going into the technical aspect of customization, suffice it to say, some level is feasible.
As a consumer think of how nice it would be to visit a site and have it adapts to your interests. I’m not talking the “big brother” approach where you cringe and wonder how so much is known about you.
But some ability to adapt. Even as simple as changing how you are greeted based on the time of day. Or understanding what region of the country or world you are from and acknowledging such.
One Billion
There are nearly one billion websites in the world today. To standout you need to differentiate yourself. You need to provide a level of services others do not.
You don’t need to be Amazon to achieve this. But you do need to be open to the idea. You need to introduce a sense of creativity.
And most important, you need to look at your business and website through the eyes of your customers. You need to ask one simple question. Well maybe two.
Would you buy from you? Does your business wow you as compared to your competition?